The next year will be difficult both politically and militarily; however, the probability of reaching a peace agreement to end the russian-Ukrainian war will be higher than in 2025. Ukrainian political analyst, director of the Center for Political Studies “Penta”, Volodymyr Fesenko, stated this in an interview with OstroV.
According to him, the current negotiation processes may transform into real agreements already during the next year, but this is not a guaranteed scenario.
“The year will be difficult. It will be a year when the probability of a peace agreement to end the russian-Ukrainian war will be higher than in 2025. The negotiations that are ongoing now and that will continue in 2026 can potentially lead to a peace agreement either in the spring or at the end of the year. There will be a chance for this”, - Fesenko noted.
At the same time, he emphasized that the decision on a possible move toward agreements will primarily depend on whether vladimir putin considers it expedient to continue the war.
“Another matter is that if putin feels capable of continuing the war or believes that we could lose, he will continue it — not only in 2026, but beyond”, - the political analyst stressed.
Separately, Fesenko commented on the prospects of holding elections in Ukraine next year, noting that this scenario is not unequivocally determined.
“No. It is possible, but not mandatory. I would not give one hundred percent guarantees”, - he replied when asked whether one could confidently assert that next year will be a year of elections.